Managing food is about fairness

Andrew Coyne writes that supply management is a “hideous policy” (SP, June 14). He has other derogatory things to say and suggests that there is no case for this policy and “no serious person whose livelihood does not depend upon it would make it.”

One of the roles of government in a sovereign nation is to act as an authoritative body that makes rules that are fair to all the stakeholders and acts as a referee to enforce the rules so that everyone involved has a sense of being treated fairly, not taken advantage of, not being overpowered by someone with more money, a bigger and better legal team.

So, I would like Coyne to tell me why the CFL has a salary cap for all of its teams? Why do they have a limit on the number of imports? Why do all sports have referees? Why do games have rules? Why not let two opponents go at each other and declare the last ones standing the winner? (President Trump’s understanding of free trade and fair play.) Why do we regulate our banks? Why don’t we just begin discussions with the United States to become the 51st state. Who made “economics” the “supreme authority” to which everything else in life must submit? Coyne? What does it mean to be an independent sovereign nation? Don Barss, Saskatoon